Page 75 of Patron of Mercy

For a moment, all Thanatos could do was blink at him. Then he remembered why that was a strange request. “She tried to kill you!”

Lach gave a half-hearted shrug. “You gotta give her a break on that. I mean, Charles was nuts. Imagine having a father like him.” He made a face as though he’d just remembered that Thanatos’s own father was the primordial entity of darkness, and shook his head. “Anyway, I’m worried about her, you know? I mean, I love Gaia. She’s always been awesome to me. I’ve known her for ages, but can Martina be okay in there? Did she have a choice in all this?”

Thanatos sighed and sat down on the bench in the mess. “You’re serious.” The look he got in return was so very Lach, all he could do was sigh again. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Gaia.”

He’d never imagined he would do that. He rarely summoned any gods, or even spoke to them at a distance. He certainly hadn’t ever considered summoning a goddess as ancient as his own parents.

Truth told, he didn’t expect her to answer, let alone show up. She’d said she planned to go looking for food, which Thanatos could understand. Most gods spent all of their time chasing worldly pleasures, but Gaia had been the world itself for so long, he doubted she truly understood what the term meant.

He was trying to decide whether to bother calling again when she appeared in the middle of the room.

She had changed from Martina’s pragmatic cargo pants into a flowing beige dress reminiscent of something from ancient Greece, and there was a serene smile on her lips.

Lach rushed over to her, and Thanatos had to struggle not to stop him. Dammit, the man had almost died, and he was determined to go around acting like he hadn’t. Like he hadn’t almost bled out right there in front of Thanatos and Hermes. Thanatos was taken by the dual urge to grab him and shake him, and to wrap him in so many layers of armor that nothing would ever touch him again. Perhaps Hephaestus would be willing to make something for him.

“We are pleased to see you well,” Gaia told him, smiling and brushing a lock of hair out of his face in the most maternal manner Thanatos had ever seen.

Her voice sounded less like a goddess and more like a person, but she was clinging to the royal we, which seemed like a good sign for Martina. At least, to Thanatos it did. Lach bit his lip and kept his gaze trained on the floor.

There was no hesitation in Gaia; she knew Lach and knew what he was worried about. “You are concerned for the half of us that was Martina.”

Lach looked up at her so fast Thanatos was worried he was going to give himself whiplash. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful or anything. It’s just that she’s my friend, and I know how we mortals tend to get torn up in service to the gods—not that I’m talking about you or anything, but—”

“We understand your concern,” she said, leaning in and patting his cheek. “The part of us that is Martina is surprised that you aren’t angry with her.”

“Puh-lease,” Lach dismissed, waving the concern away. “Everyone who’s ever worked with me has wanted to kill me at least once, and you didn’t even follow through. Plus, you know, you guys kinda saved my bacon.”

Gaia cocked her head to one side. “Bacon?” Without any explanation from them, she nodded. “Ahh, bacon. And a colloquialism. We put you in the situation that nearly cost your life. Both of us. It was the least we could do to extract you from it.”

“Well the least you could have done—”

“He means thank you,” Thanatos interrupted Lach with a glare. “He appreciates your help. Now if only we can continue to keep him from getting himself killed with his own sheer carelessness.”

“Hey!” Lach said, ready to protest.

Gaia turned to Thanatos and nodded. “Have you considered feeding him ambrosia?”

Thanatos winced, but he wasn’t going to lie, not to either of them. He nodded.

The look on Lach’s face would have been priceless if it hadn’t been so heartbreaking. “You have? Seriously? Me?”

Gaia nodded, half turning to Thanatos, to bring him into the conversation. Again, he was reassured for the continuance of Martina’s personality, since such a thing would never have occurred to Gaia, who had been so long without a human body. “I can retrieve it if you wish.”

“Sounds good to me,” Lach agreed without a second’s hesitation.

The sound Thanatos made was a touch embarrassing, a cross between a moan and something pained.

Lach looked concerned. “What? Are you okay?”

“This isn’t a dinner invitation, Lach. This is eternity. At least pretend to think about it! Consider what you’ll be giving up!” Thanatos hated to keep hammering on a single point, but it was important. It had been millennia since Lach had seen his family, and if he chose to eat ambrosia, to stay with Thanatos, he would never be allowed to stay with them.

“Eternity in Elysium, right. But you go there sometimes,” Lach pointed out contrarily. He couldn’t help himself, of course. Contrary was the core of his nature.

Thanatos wanted to throw his hands up and walk away, but he recognized that was because if he did, he would end up getting exactly what he wanted: a Lach with golden ichor running through his veins. “I think you should visit Elysium before making a choice.”

“But wouldn’t I be dead then?”

Thanatos finally had to roll his eyes. “God of death, love. If anyone can bend the rules a little, it’s me.”

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